Ethiopians Holding Candid Conversation to Foster Common Understanding on Major Nat’l Issues

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia, being home to numerous religious and ethnic diversities, has embarked on fostering an honest and candid conversation to bring lasting peace and development by ensuring national consensus, National Dialogue Commissioner Ambaye Ogato affirmed.Indonesia-Ethiopia Interfaith Dialogue held under the theme of "Diplomacy of Religious Moderation to Build Interfaith Dialogue," today in Hawassa city of Sidama region.The event, organized by the Embassy of Indonesia in Ethiopia and the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia, brings together faith leaders and intellectuals from the two countries.Speaking at the occasion, Commissioner of National Dialogue Commission, Ambaye Ogato said Ethiopia has a very complex and tumultuous political history.He emphasized that the political, economic, cultural, and religious engagement standoffs that have plagued us can only be addressed through inclusive dialogue."With unwavering conviction, we have embarked on conducting a national dialogue, and to this end, the nation established a National Dialogue Commission by proclamation nearly two years ago."He recalled the commission is an independent institution that is tasked to facilitate an all-inclusive dialogue to bring national consensus on major issues and restore the degraded social values that we endured for generations.According to the commissioner, the ongoing dialogue provides a platform for all Ethiopians to come together and harmonize the political, cultural, religious, and historical discord that has been causing havoc in the country.The commissioner reiterated that unlike many other national dialogues the Ethiopian national dialogue gives equal access to all actors.In other words, "we drifted away from being obsessed with the elites all politics. We are giving a chance to all Ethiopians to be on board. They could come in chartering their own common future," he elaborated.Finally, the commissioner expressed beliefs that efforts like this interfaith dialogue align with the broader agenda of the country and support the commission's efforts to create an enabling environment for coming together and fostering a common understanding.Indonesian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Al Busyra Basnur said on his part this event aimed to promoting harmony among the diversities.Ethiopia and Indonesia have a lot of similarities, the ambassador said, adding "We have a lot of ethnic groups and number of religious people. We are here to learn from your experiences and share ours."Together, we can develop strategies and approaches that can help us address the challenges of religions in politics and promote a culture of peace and mutual respect.Therefore, unity in diversity is very important in all countries in the world not only in Ethiopia and Indonesia, the ambassador noted.The ambassador stressed that promoting peace and harmony in diversity is not solely the responsibility of governments or religious leaders; it should also be strongly supported and pursued together with the community.Source : Ethiopian News Agency